No Rest for the Weary
by StonesFics
Summary: Danny, Sam, and Tucker travel to Paris, France for a two week summer vacation and things don't go to plan when an akuma attack interrupts their day. Ladybug and Chat Noir are intrigued by this stranger who helped them defeat the akuma.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: This is an idea that just hit me like a truck and I wrote in a matter of few hours. I don't know if I'll continue it but I thought I might as well post it to see what people think. Enjoy!**

* * *

"We're finally here!" Danny said excitedly as the plane touched down.

All three of the teenagers were basically piling onto each other to look out the plane window. It was around noon in Paris, France and the sun was shining brightly.

"Let the sickest summer vacation ever start!" Tucker cheered and pumped his fist in the air. "A whole two weeks in a foreign country without parents!"

"Also an entire two weeks without ghost hunting," Danny said.

"Not to mention that Jagged Stone concert with V.I.P passes," Sam added.

"Bonjour, and welcome to Paris, France," a female voice spoke over the intercom of the plane.

Once they had gotten into the airport and retrieved their bags, the three were off in a taxi to their hotel. They had calmed down greatly from when they had landed. The jet lag was setting in finally and Tucker was almost falling asleep on Sam's shoulder much to her annoyance.

"We shouldn't be falling asleep yet," Sam said, not-so-gently bumping Tucker off of her shoulder and jolting him awake. "We don't want to spend the next few days being nocturnal."

Danny yawned and nodded, "What should we do then? We've got most of the day to try not to sleep."

"Well, we can go look at some shops or the-"

Sam was cut off by a scream and a deafening crash from behind their taxi. All of them quickly whipped their heads around to see a giant plant stem had crushed the car behind them.

"What the Hell?" Tucker gasped, his hand instantly hovering over the PDA in his pocket.

"Looks like we have an akuma," the taxi driver said in a heavy French accent and sighed. "Je suis desole. Please get out of the car. Merci."

Taking the man's advice without question, the three of them hopped out of the taxi followed by the driver and ran for a nearby alleyway as a plant stem crushed the taxi.

"Aw, man!" Tucker whined. "I left my good headsets in there!"

Danny let loose a heavy sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose, "There is no rest for the weary, is there? I'll go check it out. Meet you guys back here later."

Sam and Tucker nodded reluctantly but didn't argue. Danny ran further into the alleyway and into another one where he was out of sight.

"I'm going ghost!"

…

Ladybug rolled away as another vine came at her and hit another one away with her yo-yo. The akuma today had been some pissed off florist and was proving to be quite the challenge for her and her partner. She had the power to control and create plants at will.

"Chat, watch your back!" Ladybug called.

Chat spun around and hit the vine away with his staff. They had been fending off the vines nonstop since they had arrived and it was just getting harder as time went on. The park was a mess of vines and flowers that wrapped around every bench and light post. They were spreading like a plague and anyone caught in their path was grabbed and held in the air.

"Did you see where her akuma is?" Chat asked as he hopped over another vine.

"I didn't get to see where it was before it was covered by these vines," Ladybug admitted with a frustrated scowl. "We have to get rid of them somehow!"

Chat felt something wrap around his ankle but was yanked off his feet before he could react. His staff flew from his hands and he was dragged away from it.

"Chat!" Ladybug cried. She tried to run over to him to free him, but was also caught around the ankle and lifted up into the air. Another vine shot out and wrapped around her midsection pinning her arms to her sides.

"Give me your miraculouses!" The akuma demanded bringing the two heroes close to her face.

"Bonjour!" A voice called out gaining everyone's attention. Everybody looked to see what looked like a teenage boy hovering in mid air with white hair, neon green eyes, and a black jumpsuit that had a big, white 'D' on the front.

"What the…?" Ladybug squinted at the new arrival in confusion.

"Je suis desole! Uh…"

"American," Chat muttered under his breath almost bitterly.

"I'm too tired to translate," the newcomer said in English. "Just release them and let me get back to my vacation."

The akuma stared at him in confusion (as did everyone else) and purple halo came over their face. After a moment, she growled and sent vines at him.

"Fine, have it your way."

The newcomer flew down towards the vines, expertly dodging them before freezing them with the icy energy he shot from his gloved hands. The akuma let out an angry shriek and sent every vine she could after him.

Once he had frozen Ladybug's and Chat's vines, they broke free and charged towards the akuma.

"Cataclysm!" Chat Noir yelled and dragged his claw on the ground. The vines started to erode away opening a gap to the Akuma.

"Her watering can!" Ladybug called. She swung her yo-yo, latched onto the watering can, and pulled it away from her.

However, before it reached it, a vine grabbed it in midair. She pulled hard against the vine, her teeth clenching and heels digging into the sidewalk. Some kind of green blast came out of nowhere and the vine was shot away.

"Pay attention to me, mon cheri!" The stranger called and froze more of her vines. "Don't freeze on me!"

"Great, another one," Ladybug rolled her eyes. She grabbed the watering can and threw it to the ground, smashing it to bits. A little black butterfly fluttered out and she grabbed it in her yo-yo. Once it was cleansed, she released it and said, "Bye bye, little butterfly. Miraculous ladybug!" Ladybug threw her yo-yo into the air and ladybugs flew around a returned everything back to their normal state.

"Wait, are you serious?"

Chat Noir and Ladybug looked at the stranger still hovering and looking around in confusion.

"Where did everything go?" He asked in English. "It's all just… fixed. Like nothing ever happened."

"Monsieur!" Ladybug called and waved at him.

Slowly he floated towards her and landed next to them.

"Uh, bonjour," he said with an obvious American accent. "Bien, uh…"

"I know English, Jack Frost," Chat said, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring at him slightly. He walked forward until he was between the stranger and Ladybug. "Who might you be?"

"You can call me Phantom," Phantom replied easily, not put off at all by Chat's attempt to become bigger than him. "Just here on vacation. What about you, kitty?"

"My name is Ladybug," Ladybug said and stepped so she was standing next to her partner. "And this is my friend Chat Noir. I'm sorry, but my English is not as good."

A beep came from Chat's ring and he shifted his glare from Phantom to his ring. "I will be right back," he said before running off and out of sight.

"Sheesh, what's got his tail?" Phantom asked, jerking a thumb in the direction Chat ran.

"Do you mind meeting somewhere more, uh, private in an hour?" Ladybug asked hurriedly. She could see Alya and several other fans approaching quickly.

Phantom nodded, "Uh, oui. Sure. Where?"

"Top of the Eiffel Tower," Ladybug said. "That place should be private."

"Okay, I'll see you in an hour."

With that, Ladybug took off running and disappeared as well. Phantom just disappeared where he was standing.

* * *

 **AN: Not sure if I'll continue this but we'll see what happens. Thank you all for reading :)**

 **(Edited 4/4/2017 (Bless the amazing beta reader Skye for the editing))**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Due to popular demand, we're back for a second chapter! Hoo-ra!**

* * *

While Danny had been out helping the superheroes, Tucker and Sam had decided to collect their belongings (after they were magically repaired) and get to their hotel. They had a nice suite with two bedrooms, a small kitchenette, a living room, and a bathroom. Danny had called and found them, and was now sitting at their table resting his head and trying not to fall asleep.

"So, what, they're superheroes who save Paris from butterflies or something?" Tucker asked.

Danny nodded tiredly, "Yeah, it seems like it. And it seems that whatever magic they're tapping into not only gives them these powers but also fixes everything in the end. What I wouldn't give for that power."

"And they want to talk to you privately on top of the Eiffel Tower in a half hour?" Sam asked as she sat down at the table across from Danny and pulled out her laptop.

"Yep. Probably want to make sure I'm not a threat to their city of whatever. That Chat Noir seemed to be extremely territorial."

Tucker snickered, "Chat Noir. That literally translates into 'black cat.' Could you get any less original than 'Ladybug' and 'Black Cat?'"

Danny gave Tucker a lazy glare, "My name is Danny Ghost. What exactly do you expect?"

Tucker shrugged and continued flipping through channels on the TV, "I don't know, more originality than you."

"I'm very original," Danny grumbled.

"Keep telling yourself that, Danny Ghost."

"So, I found a French blog about Ladybug and Chat Noir," Sam interrupted them and turned her laptop to face Danny. "It says here that they both have this thing called a 'miraculous' that changes them into their superhero alter-egos. Apparently no one knows who they are outside of their masks."

Danny scanned the page looking at the pictures and picking out what French he could understand. He muttered, "Thank God you're fluent in French."

Sam smirked proudly and turned her laptop back to her, "So, for the past year and a half they've been saving Paris time and time again from these 'akuma' attacks and no one knows who they are. Ring a bell, ghost boy?"

"Yeah, but they seemed to be loved by the public more than hated," he said.

Sam tapped away on her laptop some more before she snickered, "Guess what was just posted. 'Phantom: Friend or Foe?' Looks like whoever runs this blog knows who you are. They linked several sources to Amity Park newspapers. They've done their research alright."

"Great, another public to hate me," Danny sighed and stood up. "I should go meet with Ladybug and Chat Noir. I'll let you know how it goes when I get back."

"Can you bring back some pizza on the way back? I haven't eaten since the plane and I'm gonna starve to death over here," Tucker said with an overdramatic sigh.

Danny rolled his eyes, "Yeah, just text me what you want and I'll bring back some pizzas."

"You're the best."

"Yeah, I am."

…

"I don't trust this guy," Chat Noir said as he leaned back against the railing of the platform at the top of the Eiffel Tower. "I saw the articles posted on the Ladyblog. He seems like trouble."

Ladybug smirked, "I never took you for the jealous type, chaton."

Chat sputtered, "I-I am not jealous! I know he has no chance with my lady. You're too good for him."

Ladybug rolled her eyes, "You don't even have a chance with me. We're just gonna meet and talk to him. Find out who and what he is, and why he's here."

"You know, I've heard it's rude talking in a language around someone who doesn't understand that language," a voice said in English. They turned to find Phantom sitting on the railing with a cheeky smile on his face.

"Thank you for agreeing to meet with us, Phantom," Ladybug said with a smile. "Also thank you for helping us with the akuma attack earlier."

"It's no problem," Phantom shrugged and floated over to them.

"So, I've heard you're a ghost," Chat crossed his arms over his chest and glared at him. He was a little taller than Phantom.

Phantom's smirk faltered, "I see you've read up on me."

Chat nodded, "Oui. And I don't trust people who hold mayors hostages, especially someone who's not even human."

"Chat!" Ladybug scolded.

Phantom's smile completely fell and his facial expression turned annoyed, "If we're just gonna talk about how inhuman and evil I am, I'd rather just leave. I have a pizza to pick up and I can hear this shit at my own home."

Ladybug said something harshly to Chat in French and he snapped back. Ladybug pinched the bridge of her nose a sighed, muttering something in French.

"Pardon my partner," she said, giving him a small smile. "Could you explain what, uh, had happened in some of these… accidents?"

Phantom nodded, "Gladly. There are a lot of people and ghosts alike who have it out for me. They like to frame me a lot, so I'm no stranger to mind control and possession."

Chat stiffened and Ladybug nodded sympathetically.

"We've dealt with the same problems before," the female superhero told him. "The difference is you don't have anything to clean it all up in the end, right?"

"Yeah. That would be a great power."

Chat stared at Phantom with piercing eyes as if trying to read a book. He seemed to be deep in thought, something Ladybug rarely saw.

"I'll trust you," Chat finally stated. "For now. But if you do anything to harm me, my lady, or anyone in Paris, you will regret it."

"I am just here on vacation," Phantom told them. "I wasn't planning on getting mixed up in anyone's affairs. Just thought I would help you guys out."

"What do ghosts take vacations from?" Ladybug asked.

Phantom shrugged, "You know, just being hated and hunted by humans and ghosts alike. Really weighs down on your decaying shoulders after awhile. Now, are we done here? I've got a pizza to pick up in five minutes across town."

Chat and Ladybug looked at each other for a moment before nodding.

"Yeah, you can go," the red superhero told him.

Phantom seemed to sag a bit in relief, "Thanks. I'll try to keep out of your guy's business as much as I can but I can help whenever you guys need it."

Ladybug extended her hand out to him, "Thank you for helping us earlier. I hope you enjoy your vacation."

Phantom shook her hand, "No problem. See you both around."

And, with that, he flew away and down back into the streets of Paris.

"Since when do ghosts eat pizza?" Chat voiced his thoughts.

"I don't know," Ladybug mumbled frowning. "I doubt that's the last we'll see of him, though."

…

"So, Daniel's gone to Paris."

Vlad Masters smirked at his screen before turning to his ghost portal.

"Let's have fun with the Little Badger, then," he almost purred as he transformed. "Time to find some presents for him and his friends."

His evil laughter echoed off the walls as he dove into the ghost portal and disappeared into the ghost zone.

* * *

 **AN: Villain using his powers for evil, has some connection with one the protagonists, being evil because of a woman, and an ass to children? Vlad and Hawkmoth might as well be brothers. They're both so Extra.  
Thank you all for reading and the wonderful reviews on the first chapter! Next chapter is in the works, I promise.**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Writing this chapter was a challenge. It took me forever to settle on an idea for it and then after I wrote that out had another idea and that's what I ended up posting. I hope you all enjoy this chapter! 3**

* * *

It was midday and the French city was alive with activity. The birds were flying around chirping, people were talking and greeting each other, and cars were hurrying to their destinations. And then there were three Americans arguing over where to eat. Although it was more like two were arguing and one was in between them tired of hearing this argument again.

"That place doesn't have any vegetarian options!" Sam yelled pointing at the menu she had pulled up at her phone.

"But they have the best steak in all of France," Tucker countered. "There isn't a better place to go!"

"There's a place right down the street from the hotel that has five stars _and_ food that I can eat," Sam put her hands on her hips and glared him down.

"But it doesn't have the best steak in all of France!"

Danny sighed, "If you two keep arguing about this, I'm finding the nearest McDonalds and we're eating there for dinner."

The two grumbled but they continued walking in silence down the street.

After awhile of walking, Tucker groaned and said, "It's really hot out. Can we find somewhere to cool down?"

"It's much hotter than Amity Park ever gets," Danny observed. "I almost wish it would rain. At least we're sort of used to that."

The three were startled when a sudden stream of water came from above and drenched Danny.

There was a pause for a moment while they processed what had happened before Tucker raised his hands to the sky and yelled, "And I want a million dollars!"

"Where did that water come from?" Sam asked and they looked up at the rooftop.

A girl with dark bluish hair came shooting out of the shop next to them apologizing to Danny in French and she shoved a towel into his hands.

"Uh, it's okay?" Danny said slowly, looking at Sam for help.

"Are you English?" the girl asked in English.

The soaked boy nodded, "Actually we're American but we speak English."

"I'm sorry," the girl told him, sheepishly rubbing the back of her neck. "I wasn't paying attention and accidentally knocked a bucket over.

"It's fine," Danny said and rubbed his hair with the towel. "I've dealt with much worse. Thanks for the towel."

The girl blushed, "It's the least I can do. I'm Marinette, by the way."

"I'm Danny, this is my girlfriend Sam, and-"

"And I'm Tucker F.," Tucker said and took a step closer to her with a cocky grin. "Do you know what the F stands for? It stands for 'fine' because you, mon cherie, are one _fine_ lady."

Marinette covered up her mouth in an attempt to hide her giggling and Danny just facepalmed.

"Ignore him," Sam deadpanned and yanked Tucker away from her.

"I've heard much worse," Marinette smiled and waved it off. "Would you three like to come inside my parent's bakery and have something? It would be on the house, of course, as repayment for soaking you."

"I could go for some chocolate chip cookies right now," Tucker said.

"It would be nice to get out of the heat for a little while," Sam chimed in. "Some of us can't magically summon water from the sky."

"I'm still waiting on my million dollars," Tucker grumbled.

The French girl giggled, "Come inside and I'll talk to my mom about getting you some cookies."

Marinette lead them inside and told them to wait while she explained what happened to her mom. Her mother, instead of being annoyed or angry like they had expected, actually seemed amused and came over to talk to them herself.

"I apologize for my daughter's clumsiness," she told them. "I'll get you three a box of a dozen chocolate chip cookies on the house. Does that sound okay?"

The three nodded enthusiastically and thanked her, and she went back to the back of the little bakery. The three Americans sat down at one of the tables to await their food.

"Are you three here on a trip?" Marinette asked, standing by their table.

Danny nodded, "We're on summer vacation. We decided to get out of the country and get away from everything."

"I hope you enjoy your time in Paris. Other than the random akuma attacks, it's usually a very peaceful and happy city."

A scream pierced the air outside and a group of people ran down the street.

"Speaking of akuma attacks," Sam muttered.

"Are these things a daily thing?" Tucker asked.

Marinette shook her head, "No, actually. Usually they only happen once, maybe twice a week. It's odd for an akuma to appear the day after an attack. You guys stay here, I'm going to go make sure everything is alright."

Before any of them could protest, she was out of the shop and running in the opposite direction that everyone else was.

"You two stay here," Danny instructed. "I'm going to go see if my help is needed with this akuma."

Then the ghost boy ran from the shop, into the nearest secluded alley, transformed, and flew in the direction of the akuma.

When he got to the akuma, Ladybug and Chat Noir were already there fighting him and dodging his attacks. This akuma was wearing an outfit similar to that of a musical conductor's except it was dark purple and he was wearing a mask and top hat. He had a white conductor's wand in his right hand and several instruments were floating around him.

"Looks like you've got a _score_ to settle with someone," Danny called to him, gaining everyone's attention.

Ladybug groaned dramatically and covered her face with her hands.

"That pun was quite _sharp_ , Phantom," Chat said with a smirk. "Careful, you might get yourself in _treble_."

"Who are you?" The akuma pointed to Danny and demanded.

The halfa raised his hands up in front of him in mock defensive, "Whoa, man, no need to _be flat_. I helped kick your buddy's ass yesterday and I'm back to kick yours."

The conductor looked at him for a second as if contemplating what to do with him before he snarled and waved his wand. Sound waves shot out of the instruments around him and toward Danny who dodged them easily.

"How _bass-ic_ could you be?" Danny taunted and flew off dodging more attacks.

"Maybe he'll make me go deaf," Ladybug jokingly mused. Then she turned to her partner, "Chat, the akuma is in his wand. We need to grab it while Phantom's distracting him."

Chat nodded and gave her a cheeky smirk, "Hopefully this akuma won't be _tuba-d_."

"I'm in Hell."

The two superheros advanced on the conductor while his back was turned. Chat boosted into the air using his baton and dove to grab his wand. Right before he got to it, though, a trumpet that was floating near the shoulder of the akuma turned towards him and blasted him, sending him flying back into the air.

"Chat!" Ladybug cried. She was distracted long enough for her to be blasted by the same trumpet and sent flying back.

The conductor cackled, "You think you can sneak up on moi?"

"Maybe you need a few more notes to play with," Danny said. Then two more Phantoms appeared next to him. "See if you can conduct this!"

The three Phantoms flew in different directions and the conductor had trouble keeping track of all of them.

Ladybug groaned and slowly got up. Her ears were ringing from the soundwaves but other than that she was okay.

"Are you okay, my Lady?" Chat came up next to her, looking her up and down for injuries.

Ladybug nodded, "I'm fine, chaton. Are you okay?"

"A little out of tune but I can manage."

The red clad superheroine rolled her eyes, "You're going to be the death of me. I think we can try what we did last time. Phantom has him distracted even more so we should be able to sneak up on him easier. You get the wand, I'll back you up if you need it."

Chat did a little bow, "It'll be my purr-sure, my lady." And he took off towards the akuma.

This time, Chat was successful in getting the wand and threw it to Ladybug. She caught it, broke it, and purified the butterfly.

"Miraculous ladybug!"

Everything was returned to normal and once again the day was saved.

"Good job, guys," Phantom said and landed next to them. "You two work together very well."

"Besides the times when I want to knock him out with my yo-yo, we do work well together," Ladybug said with a laugh. "Thank you for your help, Phantom. I didn't even have to use my lucky charm and Chat his Cataclysm."

"It's nice to have someone who appreciates my puns for a change," Chat added.

Danny shrugged, "It was fun to help out. It's nice to not be thrown into buildings for a change. I also got to exercise my duplicating power. Now, I've got some business to get back to."

"Enjoy the rest of your vacation," Ladybug told him.

They waved as he flew off before they bid each other goodbye and split up to change back.

…

"Phantom."

The word fell from Hawkmoth's lips slowly and hung in the air around him like his butterflies.

"He's not a miraculous wielder," he hummed. "He shall prove to both be a tool and a challenge. I wonder if a ghost can be akumatized."

Slowly Hawkmoth turned around and walked towards the exit of the room as it darkened.

"Time will soon tell."

* * *

 **AN: Fun facts about this chapter: the akuma was actually inspired by a friend of mine who's a major band nerd. I actually had to text him and ask him to help me think of puns for it. I'm in band but for some reason I was just blanking on puns. Also that line that Tucker used on Marinette is something that I'm still very proud of and I feel it was a very Tucker thing to say.  
(Bonus: brownie points for those who can spot the _Friends_ reference.)  
Thank you all for reading and showing your support for this story. I never expected it to get this much attention and I'm so proud of it. See you all next chapter 3**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: I apologize for how long it took for me to get this chapter done. A lot has been happening with graduating and moving and everything that I've hardly had time to do much writing. Hopefully this makes up for it!**

* * *

The next few days went without incident for the young Americans. For once in their lives, they were able to spend their days like normal teenagers playing tourist. No ghost or akuma attacks at all, and Paris was the peaceful city it usually is.

A few times they went back to Marinette's bakery, bought some pastries, and talked with Marinette and her friend Alya. They learned some tricks and tips to getting around Paris quickly and efficiently from the French girls, and also what the best sights to see were and when to see them.

One afternoon three days after the last akuma attack, Danny, Tucker, Sam, Marinette, and Alya were strolling through a nearby park. It was warm outside, the sun shining brightly as it slowly made its way across the sky. The teenagers were just chatting and relaxing.

"So, what do you guys think of Paris so far?" Alya asked the three Americans.

"It's beautiful," Danny replied.

Tucker nodded in agreement, "Besides the akuma attacks, everything's been chill."

"What do you guys think of our local super heroes?" Alya inquired further. Her journalist side was kicking in a bit.

"They're cool. Superheros were probably one of the last things we expected to see when coming here," Danny answered honestly. "Phantom was, uh, definitely a surprise."

"Phantom is a surprise to us as much as he is to you," the red haired French girl said. "I did some research on him for my blog and he's only been spotted in America. I can't imagine why he's here all of a sudden."

"What do you guys think of him?" Sam asked.

Alya shrugged, "So long as he's not causing any trouble or bothering anyone, I don't see why he can't be here as well. He's also been helping Chat Noir and Ladybug which is good for them."

"I think he's just on vacation," Marinette added. "Maybe even ghosts need to take a break from their lives sometimes. Or, afterlives?"

Danny looked at Marinette with a mixture of confusion and appreciation. The idea reminded of what he said to Ladybug and Chat Noir the first day they were here. He appreciated the fact that they didn't seem to mind his presence there but something still felt off about the comment.

"I never thought about it like that," Alya said. "Maybe he is just taking a vacation. I mean, he seems to be a being with an actual conscious and awareness. Hm, that is an interesting idea."

Gently Sam bumped Danny and gave him a soft, knowing look. She whispered to him, "See, some people understand."

Danny didn't respond, just nodded and some heat rushed into his cheeks.

The five teenagers then decided to grab some ice cream from a local vender and sit down at a table to eat it.

This was the most relaxed Danny had felt in a very long time. He was just a normal teenager doing normal teenage things with other normal teenagers. He was feeling better than he had in such a long time.

However, that relaxation melted away instantly when a shiver ran through his spine and a breath of cold forced itself out of his mouth. His gaze shot to the sky and he looked everywhere for anything out of the ordinary.

"Danny?"

He looked to find Sam giving him a concerned look. The expression on his face communicated everything to her.

"Oh my god, look at the time," Sam said as she looked at her phone and stood up. "We have somewhere to be in fifteen minutes that we completely forgot about and it's all the way across the city. Sorry, but we need to leave _right now_."

"Thing?" Tucker asked. "What thing? I don't remember- oof!"

An elbow in the side from Sam instantly shut him up.

"Uh, yeah, we'll see you guys later! Sorry!" Danny gave a smile that was probably too innocent and before Marinette or Alya could say anything they were gone.

"...Alright, that was suspicious," Alya said as they watched the group leave. Then a mischievous grew on her face, "We should follow them. They're up to something and it's our duties as law abiding citizens to find out what."

Marinette rolled her eyes but was smiling nonetheless, "You're such a journalist."

"I take pride in that, girl. Now, I hope you're in shape because we have to jog a bit to catch up with them."

…

"Dude, are you sure?" Tucker asked Danny. Currently they were an alley way not too far from the park.

"I've had these powers for over two years, Tucker. I'm sure," Danny told him firmly. "I don't know where or who but there is a ghost somewhere around here. Did either of you happen to somehow get a Fenton Thermos™ here by chance?"

"Yeah, I did," Sam said. "But it's back at the hotel in my suitcase."

Danny nodded, "You and Tucker go get it. I'll go ghost and look around. See if I can find anything. Hopefully it's just a peaceful ghost out for a stroll."

The two others nodded and ran out of the alleyway.

Danny didn't follow them, though. He nearly shouted out, "I'm going ghost!" Then two white rings came out from his waist and spread up his body transforming him into none other than Danny Phantom. He took off into the air and disappeared from sight.

At the other end of the alley, two French girls were peering around the corner and could not believe their eyes. One squealed.

"Marinette, oh my gosh I can't believe it!" Alya turned to her friend nearly jumping with joy. "We know who Phantom is! Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh! And I got it all on my phone!"

Marinette didn't look at overjoyed, however. Actually she seemed kind of nervous, "Uh, actually, Alya, I don't think we should tell anyone about this."

"Girl, are you crazy?" Alya raised and eyebrow. "Do you know how popular my blog would get from this? I can already see the views and comments now!"

Marinette put a hand on Alya's shoulder to bring her back to earth, "But Alya, he clearly doesn't want people to know. Imagine if this got out, he wouldn't ever have privacy again. Please don't tell anyone else about this."

Alya looked her friend up and down critically for a second. After thinking for a moment, she sighed and relented, "Okay, I see your point. I won't post the video or tell anyone."

"Thank you, Alya," Marinette smiled and removed her hand from her shoulder.

"But that's not stopping me from doing as much research to figure out who and what Danny is. I don't think he's like Ladybug or Chat Noir. His powers come from a different source."

Marinette nodded and the two started walking back towards the bakery, "I agree with you. I think I'll be doing the same."

…

Marinette sat down at her computer desk and logged on. She bit her lip in concentration and opened up Google.

Tikki flew up beside her and looked at the screen, "What are you looking up, Marinette?"

"I'm looking up everything and anything about ghosts and Phantom," Marinette said without taking her eyes off the screen.

Tikki flew up and saw on top of the monitor, "I can tell you about ghosts."

Marinette looked up at her Kwami and silently gave her her attention.

"I've been around for thousands of years, Marinette," Tikki continued. "I've met many other mythical and supernatural beings in my time."

"Wait, so, there's other supernatural creatures and stuff around?" Marinette asked.

The tiny god nodded, "Yep! You didn't think the miraculous's were the only magic in existence, did you?"

"Uh," Marinette shrugged, "I never thought about it, I guess."

"Myths and legends come from somewhere. Ghosts have existed as long as the universe has. They're just reincarnations of humans after they die."

"Why aren't there a ton of them everywhere then?" Marinette asked. "There has to be billions of them around."

Tikki shook her head, "That's not how it works. Ghosts don't exist on earth, they have their own dimension of their own where they roam. They have homes there and their own pocket dimensions. Real ghosts are rarely seen on earth mostly because most of them don't care to come here. They enjoy their peaceful afterlives in their realms."

"Why is Danny here then and how can he appear human?"

"I'm not completely sure how but Danny is both human and ghost. He's half of each. I could feel the ghost energy on him every time he was around but I didn't want to say anything until I knew for sure. It's supposed to be impossible."

"Hm," Marinette nodded slowly and drummed her fingers on the keyboard in thought. "So, should I tell him I know? Or just keep it a secret."

Tikki shrugged, "That's up to you. I'm sure just as long as you don't tell anyone else, he wouldn't mind."

"Yeah, you're right. I'll tell him if I need to but for now I'm going to keep it to myself. Hopefully Alya does the same. "Marinette got up from her chair and started walking to the trapdoor to the kitchen, "I think I need some food now. I'll grab some cookies for you, Tikki."

"Uh, Marinette, I think the cookies are going to have to wait."

Marinette looked quizzically as the tiny god flew up to her window and looked out. There was a sudden explosion of green that shook the building and screams pierced the air.

"Akuma attack?"

Tikki shook her head, "Ghost."

* * *

 **AN: We gonna hit some real action next chapter. Thank you to all who have read, reviewed, followed, and favorited! See you all next chapter :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Hey, look this story isn't dead! I've come back from the grave to continue.  
** **I apologize for the length in time between updates but things have just been weird and crazy and so much has happened. I don't want to abandon this story, though. Thank you everything for the reviews and everything. They've helped me to continue this.  
** **Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this next chapter! :)**

* * *

Danny was blasted backwards by a missile hitting him in the chest. He flew back into a building and slammed into the wall. Pain shot through his body and he slowly peeled off the building, falling down to the ground below.

"Is that all you've got, Skulker!" Danny taunted as he picked himself back up. "My dad could pack more of a punch!"

He quickly dodged some small missiles that were sent at him and flew back up into the air. Despite the obvious change in location and shock that Skulker was actually there, the fight was on par with how his fights with Skulker usually went. They'd blast each other, Danny would make a smart remark, Skulker would call him a "welp" and talk about how he wanted Danny's pelt mounted on his wall; same old, same old. The only thing that through Danny for a loop was the fact that Skulker was actually there.

"I flew a long way to catch you, ghost child!" Skulker shouted and fired a net that Danny dodged. "I will not lose to you this time! You will be mine!"

The ghost hunter aimed his blaster at Danny, charged up a big blast, and fired it, hitting Danny square in the chest and sent him flying back and through the wall of a thankfully empty office building. While Danny was recovering, Skulker grabbed him by his collar and pulled him up so their faces were almost touching.

"Do I pack a punch now, welp?" Skulker growled.

The halfa made a disgusted face and replied, "You pack a pungent punch. When was the last time you brushed your teeth? Last century?"

An electric shock went through Danny and he let out a pained yell. He fruitless struggled against Skulker's grip.

Skulker let out a deep chuckle, "Your skin will look so good on my wall. I will be so satisfied once this hunt is finally finished."

"Hey!"

Something hard hit Skulker from behind causing him to wince and drop Danny. He tried around, enraged at whatever at whatever interrupted him and found Paris's two local superheroes staring back. Ladybug was had a more serious expression while Chat had a wide grin and was casually tossing a piece of rubble up and down in one hand.

"We're going to have to ask to see your passport, monsieur," Chat said cheekily.

"Miraculous stones," Skulker breathed and he smirked. "3 rare finds for the price of one."

"Watch out!" Danny charged up a blast and shot Skulker in the back, sending him flying out of the hole in the side of the building. Ladybug and Chat Noir barely dodged his body as it went flying out.

"You two gotta get out of here," Danny told them sternly. "This isn't your battle and you could get seriously injured."

Ladybug quirked an eyebrow at him, "He's a threat to the citizens of Paris and that makes him our battle. We are going to fight with you and you cannot change that."

"Duck!" Chat yelled.

The three of them ducked as a net sailed over their heads.

Danny huffed, "Fine but please try not to get hurt. A… an associate is going to bring something to trap him in soon so we just have to keep him busy until they arrive."

"Distraction is my specialty," Chat said, shooting him a thumbs up.

Chat Noir and Ladybug jumped up to the roof of the building. Danny turned back towards Skulker, his fists clenched and ready to smash some metallic ghost face. Instead however he had to quickly raise a shield to deflect several ecto blasts coming at him.

"I've missed fighting you, Skulker," Danny remarked and threw some ecto blasts back at Skulker. "It's always nice to have a blast from the past."

While they continued to battle it out, Ladybug and Chat circled around behind Skulker, trying to keep a good distance from him.

"We need to come up with a plan," Ladybug said. "He's not like the akumas we usually fight and we could get seriously hurt if we aren't careful."

Danny was sent flying over their heads and into a building a block over. Chat and Ladybug quickly dodged some rockets as Skulker turned his attention onto them.

"Chat, split up!"

The two French heroes tore off in different directions. Chat Noir vaulted over to the roofs on the other side of Skulker. The ghost hunter decided to focus on him. However a yo-yo catching on his foot and pulling him down. The jet's in the back of his ectoskeleton activated and he continued to levitate.

"Chat, now's your chance! That out his jets!" Marinette yelled.

"Anything for my lady," Chat said with an exaggerated bow and a cheeky smile.

He lept off the building with a battle cry but he was cut short when Skulker aimed one of his gun barrels at him and shot him with a net. He fell to the ground below with an audible thud.

"I'm going to declaw you first chance I get," Skulker growled. Then he looked down at Ladybug hanging off of his boot and smiled, "Didn't quite work out how you planned, huh, little bug?"

Ladybug released her yo-yo and grappled onto a streetlight, safely swinging down to the ground. She sprinted to Chat, dodging rockets and nets as she went.

"Hey, ghost zone's greatest tin head!" Danny had returned to the battle zone and punched Skulker upwards with an uppercut. "Pick on someone your own species!"

Taking the opportunity while Skulker was distracted, Ladybug released Chat and helped him out of the net. He shakily stood up with obvious burns and holes in his suit.

The black cat super hero gave Ladybug a weak cheeky smile and said, "Well that net was quite… shocking."

His lady gasped, "Did it shock you? Are you hurt?'

He waved her off, "Nah, it's nothing I can't walk off. Let's focus on kicking this ghost into next week."

Ladybug huffed but dropped it knowing that they had to focus on defeating the ghost first. She looked up at the two ghosts fighting above them. Then she smiled.

"Chat, I have an idea."

…

Danny put up his ecto shield in time to block a volley of rockets from Skulker. It held up long enough to block them but disappeared as quick as it came.

"Give it up, ghost child!" Skulker told him. "You're clearly tiring of this battle. You're too far from home!"

"And let you win, Skulker?" Danny called back. "That'll be the day. Plus, I'm just warming up."

That was an obvious lie to all who could see him. He was not reacting as quickly as he should and attacks were weakening. He was breathing heavily too as if he just ran a mile. Something was wrong.

"Danny, heads up!"

Danny's head snapped in the caller's direction. The caller was female so he expected to see Sam down below waving around a Fenton Thermos™ but instead he saw Ladybug in the middle of the street below swinging around Chat on yo-yo faster than any human should be able to swing someone. She was spinning around in a circle staying totally still and Chat was just a black blur at the end of the string.

In a split second, Chat released from the yo-yo and flew through the air straight by Skulker.

"Cataclysm!" Chat shouted and ran his clawed hand down Skulker's exoskeleton as he passed. From where his hand touched, the suit turned to rust and disintegrated.

"NOOOOOO!" Skulker shouted as his suit disintegrated. Danny picked up the small green blob that was Skulker's real form before it fell out of the sky.

Slowly he levitated down to the ground and landed easily. Using none of his powers felt good to him.

"Damn you, miraculous users!" Little Skulker shouted, struggling in Danny's grip. "I will destroy you all! You'll all be in my collection, mark my words!"

"So, that's what he really looks like?" Ladybug asked as she walk up to him. "He's so small!"

Danny chuckled, watching the small ghost, "Yeah, once you strip him of his suit, he's not that terrifying anymore."

"Yo, dude!" Danny turned to find Tucker jogging towards him holding the Fenton Thermos™. He tossed it to him and Danny used it to suck up Skulker.

Once Tucker reached Danny, he bent over out of breath from running so far and whined, "Why didn't sam do this? She's in much better shape. Damn girls."

"Uh, Ladybug, this is my associate Tucker," Danny introduced, gesturing to his nearly dying friend beside him.

The technogeek straightened up and gave as charming as a smile as he could manage and said, "The name's Tucker. Have you ever wanted to taste an American?"

Ladybug snickered and rolled her eyes, "Charming."

Danny elbowed Tucker in the side and shot him an unimpressed glare. Tucker just stuck his tongue out in response.

Marinette started to notice that people were starting to come out of their houses and fill back up on the street. They were starting to get closer to them and they needed to be out of their quickly.

"Phantom, I think we should be leaving soon," she told him.

Danny seemed to notice everyone around them as well and nodded, "You're right. Before we do, though, would it be too much trouble to ask you to try to fix the damage with your magic yo-yo powers?"

Ladybug looked down at her yo-yo in consideration, "I don't know if it'll work since I didn't catch an akuma but I could give it a shot." She threw the yo-yo into the air and yelled out, "Miraculous ladybug!"

The all of their surprise, the same little bugs that usually come out shot out and flew to all of the damage and repaired it. Just like after an akuma attack, everything was restored to it's normal state.

"Oh thank God," Danny visably untensed and sighed in relief. "I was afraid that wouldn't working and I'd have to deal with yet another public hating me for property damage." He held out his hand to Ladybug, "It was good to fight with you again. Thank you for helping me with Skulker."

Marinette shook his hand with a smile and said, "Just doing my duty. I'll see you soon, Phantom."

And, with that, she turned around and slung away using her yo-yo.

"Dude, you don't look so good," Tucker commented looking Danny up and down.

"Yeah, I don't feel so good. Let's get back to the hotel so I can take a nap or something."

Danny turned them both invisible and they flew away.

* * *

 **AN: Wow, writing action scenes is not my strong suit. I hope it turned out okay, though.  
Thank you all for reading! I'll see you all next chapter :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Hey, welcome back, my friends! Thank you for all the support for this story! I cannot thank you guys enough for all the follows and reviews and everything.  
** **I hope you all enjoy this chapter!**

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The night after the attack, Marinette was sitting at her computer watching replays of the ghost fight on the ladyblog. How Alya was able to get such good angles and not be seen by any of them was beyond her but she couldn't complain. She was able to see stuff in the fight that she wasn't able to in the midst of it.

"Danny looks kind of tired out," Marinette mused as she watched the footage. "I wonder if that's normal for him. He's breathing really heavy."

Tikki flew up from where she was sitting eating a cookie and observed the screen. She watched Danny for a bit before shaking her head and saying, "I don't think so. His ecto signature is weaker."

"What does that mean? Is that bad?" Marinette asked.

"Ghosts are made of a substance known as ectoplasm," the tiny god explained. "It's like their blood and life matter. The ghost zone is filled with it. When a ghost is away from it too long, it can start to weaken because it's not absorbing any more ectoplasm. That's why you don't see a lot of ghosts outside of the ghost zone."

"What about Danny? He's only half ghost and he doesn't seem to be made up of ectoplasm," Marinette pointed out.

Tikki thought for a moment, "It probably won't affect him as much but the more he uses his ghost powers the more it'll wear him out."

"Is it fatal?"

Tikki nodded, "Potentially, yes. He's basically draining part of his life force."

"I need to tell him then!" Marinette cried and stood up from her chair. "He needs to know the risk!"

"You'll have to tell him you know about him being half ghost," Tikki reminded her.

Marinette stopped and deflated, "Yeah, you're right. What should I do then?"

Tikki flew up and landed in Marinette's outstretched hands and looked up at her with her big, blue eyes, "It's up to you, Marinette. You can tell him and maybe he'll be okay with you knowing. Or you can hope that he doesn't burn himself out by fighting more akumas."

Marinette thought for a moment, weighing her options. On one hand, she could tell Danny she knew he was Phantom and warn him of the risk of fighting. But she didn't know how he would react to that. It would be like if someone she hardly knew came up to her and told her that they knew her secret and that would flip her out.

On the other hand, letting him continue on fighting akumas and (hopefully not more) ghosts, he would be at risk of getting hurt or worse. He needed to know the risks of what he was doing.

"Marinette," Tikki brought her out of her thoughts, "maybe Ladybug could tell him instead?"

Realization dawned on the young French girl's face and she facepalmed, "Of course, I could approach him as Ladybug after a fight or something. I can't believe I forgot about that. What would I do without you, Tikki?"

Tikki giggled, flew up, and hugged Marinette's cheek, "You'd still be fine. I trust you know what to do."

Marinette smiled, "Thanks, Tikki."

 _Meanwhile, a few blocks away…_

The three Americans sat around the TV in their hotel room watching through the news coverage of the ghost attack on one of the few English news stations.

" _Tonight the city of Paris experienced an attack unlike any that it has faced before_ ," the female news reporter said, looking intensely at the camera in front of her. " _This city is no stranger to strange akuma attacks but tonight what we witnessed was no akuma attack. Tonight the city was attacked by none other than a spectral being seemingly lured here by the presence of Phantom_."

Danny groaned and buried his face in his hands.

"They haven't said anything about hating you yet, dude." Tucker pointed out and clapped his friend's shoulder comfortingly. "There's still a chance that they don't hate your guts."

" _He's a menace to our society and he should go back to his own country!_ " The voice of an old lady declared over a phone interview. " _Phantom being here endangers us all! He needs to leave before someone get hurt!_ "

Tucker winced, "Should've kept my mouth shut. Sorry, dude."

"This is so stupid." Sam grabbed the TV remote and paused the broadcast. "It's just like back home. They don't see the good stuff you're doing and only focussing on the bad stuff that happens. No one got hurt and any property damage was fixed. They're being so stupid, dammit!"

Danny remained quiet, glaring down the TV as if it would answer all of his problems or hopefully burst into flames. He cursed himself for going ghost in the first place and getting himself into this mess. It was like wherever he went his ghost side would somehow get involved. All he wanted was a normal vacation with his friends. Was that really too much to ask?

"Hey, man, I know what you're thinking." Danny was pulled from his thoughts by Tucker's words and looked at his best friend. He had a soft expression and wore a knowing smile as he continued, "From what I've seen online, most of Paris loves you. I've gone through some blogs and forums‒ mostly Ladybug and Chat Noir related ‒and most of what I've seen are people talking about how cool you are and raving about your ghost powers.

"Not to mention, this isn't Amity Park," Tucker added. "We don't live here and we're leaving in a week. So just lay low until then and everything should be fine."

Danny sighed and smiled at Tucker, "Yeah, you're right. I'll just lay low for the next few days. Thanks, man."

"No problem," Tucker replied. "Buuuuut I will expect payment in the form of French women picked up by none other than Phantom himself."

Danny rolled his eyes good naturedly, "Get ghost powers and pick up women for yourself."

"Been there, done that; not happening again."

"If you two are done being gay on the couch," Sam said and sat down next to Danny, opening her laptop on her lap, "I'd like to forget about all of this and plan out what we're going to do tomorrow. How does visiting Notre Dame sound?"

"Yo, like The Hunchback of Notre Dame?" Tucker asked excitedly. "That movie is sick, we gotta go check out the place."

While Sam and Tucker talked on either side of him about their destination tomorrow, Danny tuned it out and unpaused the news broadcast and watched it further. He watched the fight with Skulker lazily, studying how Chat and Ladybug moved and worked together as a team and he admired their team work.

It came to the point where Danny was fighting Skulker and Ladybug was winding up to throw Chat. Right before she threw him, she yelled, "Danny, heads up!" Hearing that, the halfa's breath caught in his throat and he dropped the remote.

Tucker and Sam became quiet at their friend's actions and both studied him questioningly.

"Uh, dude, are you alright?" Tucker asked.

Danny answered by saying, "How did Ladybug know my first name?"

* * *

 **AN: Oooh, Danny might be on to Marinette. Will they figure it out or stay as oblivious as ever? Find out next time!  
Thank you all for reading! I'll see you all next chapter! Happy Halloween :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: Phew! Sorry it took this so long to get up! Was banging my head quite a bit trying to get this written and I really don't know why it took so many tries to get it right. I hope you all enjoy it!**

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Early afternoon in Paris, Danny, Sam and Tucker were sitting at a Cafe near Notre Dame eating some treats and relaxing. Since the ghost fight the day before, Danny seemed tired and out of it. Figuring that it was just after battle exhaustion, the trio decided to take it easy for the day.

The peace and quiet scene of the French Cafe was broken when the girl at the front of the line started to screech at the barista in French.

"What the hell is happening?" Tucker asked, leaning back on his chair and staring at the scene.

"She's upset because they are out of some ingredient for her drink," Sam explained as she idly stirred her coffee and ignored the screeches. "Says she's the daughter of the mayor and that she 'doesn't deserve this kind of discrimination.'"

Danny winced a little when the girl went particularly high in pitch. "I think she's going so high that only dolphins can understand her. I don't think even my wail can compare."

The screeching stopped and instead the girl just stood there glaring at the retreating back of the barista and tapping her foot impatiently.

"She demanded to see the manager," Sam stated and rolled her eyes.

"I didn't think anyone could be worse than Paulina but I think this girl might take the cake," Tucker chuckled and pointed at a blonde guy standing next to her. "Her boyfriend looks so uncomfortable. I feel bad for him. He keeps trying to talk to her, I'm assuming to calm her down, but not backing down."

Sam started to stir her drink faster in agitation and she glared down at it. Danny gently took her free hand as started to rub her knuckles with his thumb in an attempt to calm her down.

"We can't do anything about it," Danny reminded her. "It's best to just let it go."

Sam looked at Danny for a moment before sighing, relaxing, and intertwining her fingers with her boyfriend's. "Yeah, you're right. I just hate seeing people use their status and money to-"

She was cut off when the banshee screeching started up again and she whipped her head back to look at the scene. Then she gasped and slammed her hand down on the table nearly spilling all of their drinks.

"That little witch got the barista fired!"

"Wow," Tucker commented, "that's low. Paulina couldn't do that even if she wanted to. She wouldn't even _want_ to."

Suddenly the blonde "little witch" made a beeline right for their table followed by her clearly embarrassed boyfriend. She stood right in front of them, looking at them as if they were the scum of the earth, and said something to them in French.

"I'm sorry, none of us speak French," Sam told her, sickening sweet smile on her face. "We only speak English."

The girl scoffed and muttered something that sounded like "stupid Americans" under her breath. Then she ordered in English, "Move. That's my table."

"I don't see your name on it," Sam stated simply, leaning back and crossing her arms coolly.

The blonde girl's boyfriend stepped forward and kindly said, "Sorry to bother you. We can find somewhere else to sit." Then he grabbed her arm and gently tried to get her away.

She was having none of it, though.

"Do you know who I am?!" She screeched and stamped her foot. "I am Chloe Bourgeois! I am the daughter of the mayor of this city! If I can have one incompetent barista fired then I can have you banned from this cafe!"

Sam stood up, knocking her chair back a few inches, and stared Chloe down furiously. Chloe met the glare with a bored expression clearly not impressed by the challenge.

Then the blonde tipped Sam's half full drink off of the table, spilling it all into the nice black leather bag sitting underneath the table. Danny and Tucker gasped, and Danny quickly rushed to stand the cup back up. The damage was done, though.

"Oops," Chloe said without a hint of remorse.

"You bitch!"

Sam launched herself at Chloe but her boyfriend with his super-human reflexes quickly grabbed her and held her back before she could sink her nails in the daughter of the mayor. She cursed and threatened Danny, struggling to get out of his grip and rip the girl to shreds. He whispered something in her ear and she actually calmed down. She was still glaring Chloe down like a lioness glaring down her next meal but she relaxed into Danny's grip and stopped struggling.

"Sorry about that," Danny said sheepishly. He gently started to guide Sam towards the exit. "We have to leave anyways to go to a thing. Tucker, grab Sam's bag."

With an awkward thumbs up and a wave, the trio left the cafe. Once they were outside, Danny released Sam and she turned around and glared at the doors of the cafe.

"I hate it when people abuse their status and money," Sam ranted. "That poor barista did nothing and got fired and then she just- ugh! And then my bag!"

Danny placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I know, Sam, it's not fair, but we can't do anything about it. I can phase most of the liquid out of your bag." He took the bag from Tucker and it went intangible for a second letting all the coffee fall to the ground. Then he offered it to her saying, "See? Good as new."

Sam accepted the bag back and examined the inside. After a moment, she sighed and lowered the bag. "There's still a stain and some of my stuff got ruined but I guess that's better than the alternative. Thanks, Danny. Look, I gotta go to the restroom to just cool off. I'll be back in a bit, alright?"

"I'd suggest using a different restroom than the cafe we just nearly got kicked out of," Tucker said.

Sam nodded and walked down the sidewalk until she disappeared into a shop.

Tucker pulled out his phone while Danny let out a huge sigh of relief and visibly slumped.

"I honestly didn't think there was a human being alive that could get under Sam's skin more than Paulina," Danny commented. "It was like she wasn't even trying."

"Dude, I know right?" Tucker chuckled. "That was whack. Wasn't that bag the one you saved up for, like, six months to buy her for her birthday?"

The halfa nodded, "Yup. If it was any other bag, she probably wouldn't care as much."

"That suuuuuuucks."

The two waited for a while for their friend to return chatting idly. After about fifteen minutes, though, Danny was getting antsy and anxious.

"Where is she?" He asked, tapping his foot rapidly. He craned his neck to see if he could get a better view of the shop she had gone into.

"Probably just woman stuff," Tucker replied with a shrug. "Not like it hasn't happened before. Or maybe she's replacing some of the stuff that got wet."

Danny continued to watch the storefront with intensity. "Well, five more minutes and I'm sending an invisible duplicate to check it out."

"Sending a duplicate into the woman's bathroom? Dude, that's just weird even by my standards," Tucker tsked and shook his head.

"It's not like that!" Danny defended but a blush made its way to his cheeks anyways.

They were startled when both of their phones went off loudly. Having his phone already out, Tucker read, "'Akuma spotted outside of La Première Banque de Paris.' Oh this has gotta be good."

"Tucker put it away," Danny told him. "If I'm not gonna go help, I don't want to know about it."

Tucker however just gaped at his phone. Then he held it up for Danny to see and asked, "Uh, dude, is it just me or does this akuma look like Sam?"

Danny looked at the screen and his eyes grew to the size of dinner plates. "I gotta go!" He shouted and ran into a nearby alley before disappearing.

"Is it too much to ask for a normal day?" Tucker looked ruefully at his phone. Then he shrugged, pocketed his phone, and started walking down the sidewalk. "Let's see if I can find any nice French girls who would be interested in an exotic man."

* * *

 **AN: Oooooh we got the introduction of our favorite spoiled akuma-maker and she may or may not have gotten to Sam. We'll get to that more in next chapter! Thank you all for reading and I hope to see you all soon! :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: I am so indescribably sorry for how long it took to get this chapter written and in an acceptable state. I have absolutely no intention of abandoning this story. I have been constantly writing and rewriting this chapter since I posted the last. This was just a very tough chapter for me to write. I hope you all enjoy it!**

* * *

Chat Noir raced to where the akuma was spotted. Thanks to the new Akuma Alert app, whenever an akuma was causing trouble he'd get alerted and would be able to get there as soon as he could. He'd gotten the alert for this while out for coffee with Chloe and almost couldn't be happier to throw a flimsy excuse at the girl and rush out. Not that he didn't enjoy spending time with Chloe, but after the scene she had caused he couldn't help but feel like he wanted to be far away from her for awhile.

Now he was jumping across the roofs of Paris headed for La Première Banque de Paris where the akuma was reported to be seen. Thankfully, it wasn't very far. He didn't know much about what they were going to be up against. He'd only seen a few far away pictures of the akuma before leaving.

Adrien arrived at the large courtyard that the bank was located in. There were several stores also located in this courtyard around the bank and it was a usually mildly busy around this time a day.

'Usually' being the keyword as it seemed that most of the shoppers around had taken notice of the akuma and wisely fled. However there was a group of people standing in front of the bank.

On top of the bank stood the akumatized girl. For lack of a better description, she looked like if Robin Hood had had a punk makeover. She was wearing a black tunic looking shirt with black leggings that disappeared into big combat boots just below her knee. She had a black leather bag slung around her shoulder filled with arrows and a bow held in a hand that was raised in the air. Her inky black hair fell to just above her shoulders and a black Robin Hood-esque hat sat atop her head completed with a purple feather. She was yelling down to the crowd below. Looking closely, Chat could see everyone in the crowd had an arrow stuck to them.

"Oh no."

Chat turned to find Phantom walking up beside him staring at the scene with a dumbfounded expression.

"Do you know her?" Chat Noir asked.

Phantom nodded, "Yeah, she's my… a friend of mine."

Chat turned back and looked at the crowd in front of the bank. "Do you know what caused this? Where her akuma is?"

"Her bag," Phantom told him. "Some rich, snotty girl poured coffee into it. It's her favorite bag."

Instantly Adrien's mind recalled the incident that had happened before he left and he understood. Chloe had somehow caused yet another akuma. Briefly he pondered on how Phantom had witnessed the event but mentally filed it away as something to look at when he wasn't about to fight an akuma.

Phantom continued, "It seems like she's doing what she does best‒ inciting a riot."

Chat nodded, "Looks like it's time to play riot control then."

Phantom took off and flew to the bank while Chat ran across the courtyard to it. Pole vaulting, he got himself onto the roof of the clothing store next to the bank and watched as Phantom hovered a few feet before her. The crowd silenced as the akumatized girl took notice of him.

"I think this is a new record for building up a riot," Phantom commented casually. "Usually it takes a few hours for you to build up one of your vegan protests. This was ten minutes tops!"

The girl sneered yelled back, "I am La Equalizer! I am tired of the poor being stomped on by the rich! I shall make everybody equal!"

"That sounds like Sam all right," the ghost sighed to himself. "Come on, Sam, let's forget about this whole thing! I'll even get you a new bag!"

Instead of complying like Phantom had hoped, Sam growled and started to fire arrows at him. He quickly ducked behind a chimney and the arrows sailed harmlessly over head.

"You can't reason with an akuma!" Chat told Phantom from his place behind a nearby chimney.

"It was worth a shot," Phantom replied. "What now? Make a plan and take out the bag?"

Chat shook his head. "We need to distract her until Ladybug gets here. Keep her from doing anymore damage."

"Wait, we can't take out the bag or anything? Could we put the butterfly in a jar?"

Chat Noir paused. "I… I actually don't know. We haven't tried that."

"Well, this may be the time to test that out." Phantom floated up a bit and peeked his head over the chimney. "Wait, where did she-?"

BOOM!

The building shook underneath them. Smoke and rubble flew into the sky. The two superheroes shared a distressed look and they scrambled to the front of the bank.

The crowd that had been standing in front of the blank was now charging in through the crumbling front wall of the bank. Sam was standing among them shouting at them all. Soon the majority of the crowd had disappeared into the building.

"She's telling them to grab all the money," Chat told Phantom.

"Robbing a bank? Seems a little too mainstream for Sam." Phantom put a hand to his chin in thought. "See if you can distract her. I'm going to try to sneak up and phase the bag off of her." With that, Phantom disappeared into thin air.

Chat sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Distraction is my forte. Hey, La Equalizer!"

The akumatized girl turned towards him, her purple eyes blazing fiercely.

"I think the barista got what she deserved! The upper class earns all of their money and the lower class is lazy and childish!"

The words tasted terrible coming out of his mouth. They were words he'd heard dozens of times coming from Chloe and he never agreed with the idea. It seemed to do the trick, though.

"How DARE you?" She screamed and started rapid firing arrows at him.

Chat started running in a wide arc around the area, dodging the arrows that she fired. He had to duck and roll a few times when her arrows got a little too close for comfort. Admittedly it felt a little cool like he was in The Matrix.

It wasn't long before Chat noticed that the arrows had stopped. He screeched to a halt and looked back at the akumatized girl just in time to see her fire an arrow at the seemingly empty air above her. It made contact with something and exploded. Phantom became visible and was blasted backwards into a building, leaving a sizable dent and a trail of smoke.

"Phantom!" Chat cried out in alarm.

The ghost boy peeled off the building and fell three stories to the ground below. He wasn't moving and if Chat didn't know he was already a dead person, he would think that he was now.

A sharp whistling past his ear reminded him of the immediate threat and he turned back to the akumatized girl. He quickly dodged some attacks and used his staff to bat some others away. Now that he was a solo act, he had to come up with a plan fast.

"I think that's enough of that!"

A yo-yo came down and latched onto the bow in the amuka's grasp and yanked it away. Above the bank stood Ladybug like an angel from above in all her red glory. He could've (and would've) kissed her at this moment.

However at the moment, he had an akuma to take care of. While the akuma turned to growl at Ladybug, Chat sprinted at her. Once he reached her, he grabbed the bag and tore it. The black tainted butterfly was released into the air. Swiftly Ladybug swung down and caught the little akuma. Once it was cleansed, Ladybug threw her yo-yo into the sky and all the damaged was reverse.

"I'm really sorry for my lateness, Chat Noir," Ladybug apologized. "I really couldn't leave something and got here as soon as I could."

"Better late than never, my lady." Chat replied, waving off her apology. "Everything was under control."

"What happened to Phantom? Wasn't he here?"

Realization dawned on Chat and he looked towards where he saw Phantom last. However he was shoved to the side and the now unakumatized girl ran past him to Phantom. The two superheroes shared a worried look before following her.

They found the ghost boy on his knees with one arm supporting him and the other wrapped around his midsection. His arm was covered in an acid green slime that made Chat Noir's stomach churn. The girl‒Sam‒knelt down beside him and started talking to him in hushed tones.

Chat Noir knelt down in front of Phantom. "Phantom, are you okay?"

Shifting his attention from Sam to Chat, he gave a pained smile and said, "Never been better. Tis a flesh wound."

"So help me God, I will stuff you in the thermos if you downplay this," Sam hissed. She wrapped her arm around his shoulders and started helping him to his feet.

Once Phantom was up and leaning heavily against Sam, Chat and Ladybug took in the full extent of his injury. It wasn't as bad as Chat had expected a blast wound to be. Part of the front of his jumpsuit was missing and the edges were singed. The skin itself looked like it was badly sunburnt and there were a few open wounds that oozed the green slime that covered his arm.

"You should've been healed by now," Sam muttered looking Phantom over. "That wasn't even an ectobomb, it shouldn't have affected you this badly."

"Do you need to go to a hospital?" Chat asked.

"No!" Both Sam and Phantom yelled together followed by a gasp of pain from the injured ghost.

At the stunned look on two superheroes faces, Sam told them, "We just need to get out of here before reporters and everyone start showing up." Then she leaned over and whispered something in Phantom's ear and he nodded in reply.

"We'll take care of all of that," Ladybug assured them. "Are you sure you don't want any help?"

Phantom shook his head, "I heal very quickly. I'll be back to fighting in no time at all."

The exasperated glance Sam shot him told them otherwise but they had no room to argue.

"We really gotta go," Sam told them hurriedly and started to help Phantom walked away towards an alley. "Sorry about everything!"

The two walked into the alley and disappeared into the shadows. Ladybug nervously stared at the alley before turning back to Chat.

"Let's get out of here," she told him.

The teenage heroes passed by the waiting reporters and quickly escaped to the top of the nearest building. They ran through the city for a bit until Ladybug deemed them far enough away and stopped.

Ladybug- perfect, amazing, beautiful Ladybug- had a look on her face that Adrien was far too familiar with. She was biting her bottom lip and searching everywhere. Her anxiety was almost tangible.

"Is everything okay, bugaboo?" Chat asked gently.

Ladybug's blue eyes met his for a moment before looking down. "I'm sorry I was late today, Chaton. If I had been a second later, you would've been in the same shape as Phantom now."

"We both have real lives, my lady," Chat reasoned. "I'm sure whatever you were doing was important. Phantom probably knows that as well. No one blames you."

Reluctantly she nodded but Chat knew that she still didn't agree with him. If roles were reversed, he would probably be the same way if not worse.

"I hope Phantom is okay," Ladybug said softly.

"I didn't even think ghosts could get hurt like that," Chat Noir admitted. "He'll be fine, though. I think he does this a lot. Also it's not like he could-" he paused and considered his next words carefully- "die again or anything."

Ladybug did not looked comforted at all by his words. Her uncertain expression did not waver and she looked anywhere else but at him. He was familiar with that too- she knew something he didn't.

"I need to go, Chat Noir," Ladybug said, finally looking at him. "I'll see you for patrol tonight?"

Chat Noir kneeled down and kissed her hand, "Of course, my lady. I look forward to it."

The rouge blush that creeped on her face gave him a lot of satisfaction. She pulled her hand from his hand but she couldn't keep the smile off of her face.

"I'll see you tonight, Chaton."

And with that, Ladybug took off across the rooftops and disappeared from Chat's sight.

Turning towards the direction that his house in, Adrien took off as well. He dreaded the explanation he had to give to both Chloe and his father- no doubt he had heard about his little disappearing act. Seeing his beautiful Ladybug made it all worth it, though.

* * *

 **AN: There were so many ideas I had for this chapter and so many things that got cut. One of the cut lines that I wanted to put in but couldn't find a place that I liked it was a line said by Danny to akuma Sam and it was "I know you like change, but this is ridiculous!" I thought it was funny and I wanted to share it because I thought you all would appreciate it.  
Thank you all so much for reading! I honestly love this story and I hope to have more consistent updates for it! See you next chapter :)**


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: So happy to get another chapter up! I may or may not be posting this at just past 5am my time but I just wanted to get this finished and up after so long of on and off writing it. This chapter has been in my head for so long I'm so glad to finally have it finished. I hope you all enjoy it! :)**

* * *

The next day found Marinette and Alya sitting at a bench in the local park. It was an unusually cloudy day but neither girls minded the break from the summer heat. A light breeze drifted through the air.

"So, did you see the akuma battle yesterday?" Alya asked, trying to strike up some casual conversation as they waited.

Marinette winced at the mention of the akuma. "Yeah, I saw it. I couldn't watch it live since I was busy, but I went back and watched the news coverage on it."

"I'm surprised Sam agreed to an interview after what happened yesterday," Alya commented, picking up her phone and scrolling through it idly. "I figured she'd want to be with Danny while he recovered. He took a hard hit yesterday."

Flashes of Phantom injured went through Marinette's head and she silently nodded her agreement. The images had been plaguing her mind since the day before. Every time she thought about what happened to Danny, her guilt intensified.

"Are you alright, girl?" Alya was looking at her with genuine concern.

Marinette gave her a weak and obviously fake smile. "Yeah, just kind of tired. I didn't sleep well last night."

It wasn't a lie but it didn't stop Alya's skeptical gaze. She looked at Marinette for a moment before turning her attention back to her phone.

"If you're sure."

Marinette let out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding in. Since when had Alya gotten so perceptive?

She didn't get long to dwell on it, though. Across the park, she spotted a familiar trio enter and start looking around the area probably in search of them. Marinette tapped Alya on the shoulder, pointed out the Americans, and they both waved until they had their attention and the three made their way towards the bench where they were seated.

Once they got close enough to properly see, it was clear how yesterday's battle had taken its toll on them. Sam and Tucker looked exhausted with dark circles under their eyes. Sam's hand clutched a coffee like a lifeline. It was obvious they had made an effort to not look as tired as they were. Their clothes and hair weren't messy and Sam's makeup was amazingly neat.

Danny was a different story. Whereas his hair and clothes weren't a complete mess, they certainly were disheveled and mismatched. He had bags under his eyes that could carry a grocery trip on their own easily. Every movement seemed uncomfortable and sluggish. It was as if all the life in him had been drained leaving his eyes hallowed. The only source of life apparent was his fingers interlocked with Sam's non-coffee hand and the comforting way he rubbed her knuckles with his thumb.

How Danny had convinced Sam and Tucker he could come along, Marinette would never understand. She even didn't know him that well and she wanted to push him into a bed and tell him to rest for the next few days. She couldn't even imagine how Sam felt about this.

"Sorry for being late," Sam told them as they approached. "It was a rough morning. None of us are really morning people."

"Don't worry about it," Alya replied easily. "I can't tell you how many times Marinette has overslept our first class and then run in looking like she woke up two minutes ago. You're in good company."

Marinette blushed furiously and rubbed the back of her neck, giving an awkward smile.

The three Americans sat down at the bench and Alya took out her pen, notepad, and opened her voice memo app on her phone.

"I really do appreciate you allowing me to interview you. Recently I've been trying to interview akuma victims to get another side of the story. However most akuma victims don't really feel like talking about it afterwards."

Sam shrugged, "It's no problem. We thought that you could maybe answer some of our questions about akumas in return."

"We'd be happy to answer any questions after the interview," Alya told her. Then she tapped her phone to begin the recording and started, "This is Alya interviewing Miss Sam…"

"Manson," Sam supplied.

"Manson the day after she became La Equalizer and attempted to rob Paris's biggest bank while akumatized. So, tell me Sam, what caused you to become akumatized?"

"To be completely honest, I was surprised I was the one that became akumatized," Sam began. "From what I've read on your blog, akuma victims are usually taken advantage of when they're having strong negative emotions and, while I was very angry, I wasn't even the victim of the situation. Or, at least, not the biggest victim."

"Who was then?" Alya questioned, her pencil poised to write.

Sam sighed as she recalled the other day. "Okay, so, me, Danny, and Tucker were out having coffee at a cafe near Notre Dame. It was a nice shop and we were having a good time. Then this blonde girl and her boyfriend come in and the girl goes to order her coffee and she started to go off on the poor barista about the fact that they were out of some ingredients and couldn't make what she wanted. Then she started raving about discrimination and how her daddy was the mayor or something and demanded to see the manager."

"Hold on," Marinette interrupted, "did you catch her name?"

"Uh, yeah, it was something like Chloe Bou-something."

Both of the French girls groaned in irritation.

"That's five akumas in the past three weeks," Alya said pinching the bridge of her nose. "I swear, she's trying to break her own record."

"Does this girl do this often?" Sam asked.

Marinette nodded, "Chloe Bourgeois is probably my biggest headache." In more than one way. "We're in her class at school and she's caused more akumas than everybody else in Paris _combined_. Most of our class has fallen victims to akuma because of her."

"That's not a surprise," Tucker piped up, not even looking up from the phone he was glued to. "She seemed like a really little bi- I mean, brat."

"Yeah, she is," Alya said. "You said she had a boyfriend with her? Did you catch his name?"

Sam thought for a moment then shook her head. "No, I didn't. He was blonde, a little taller than her, and had really green eyes-"

"That's Adrien!"

The three Americans stared at Marinette for her little outburst. She blushed furiously and sunk into her chair.

"Adrien Agreste," Alya elaborated with a knowing smile. "He's another classmate of ours. A teen model that's almost unwilling friends with Chloe. Absolutely not her boyfriend, though she wants people to think that."

"He seemed really uncomfortable with the whole thing," Sam commented. "Kept trying to talk her out of it. But, no, she just _had_ to have her coffee. She demanded to see the manager and had the barista fired."

"So, you think the barista should've been akumatized instead of you?" Alya questioned.

"Oh yeah, no doubt about that. She lost her _job_ and all I lost was a bag. Granted, it's my favorite bag but still."

Alya quirked an eyebrow. "What happened to your bag?"

Sam sighed. "After Chloe had fired the barista and gotten some other coffee or whatever, her and Adrien came over to our table and she demanded that we leave. She claimed that it was _her_ table and she said she'd have us banned from the cafe. That's when I stopped taking it. I stood up and met her full on, ready for her challenge. I hate it when people use their status and wealth to try and get their way with everything in life. As someone who comes from a wealthy family, I've seen it happen too many times and I wasn't about to let her push me around."

"And then Chloe 'accidentally' knocked Sam's coffee over and it spilled into her bag," Tucker picked up. "Luckily our good friend Danny here has the reflexes of a tiger and kept Sam from clawing the girl's eyes out."

"I wouldn't have clawed her eyes out," Sam defended.

Danny snickered, "You pretty much launched yourself at her. I almost didn't grab you in time and then we would've gotten deported. I've seen you almost end Paulina over smaller stuff."

The goth sent Danny a withering glare and he just threw her a lopsided grin in return. It was nice to see that even though he looked like a zombie, he could still joke around.

"Anyways," Tucker interjected, obviously familiar with the couple's antics, "after that we left. Then Sam-"

A sharp ringing cut him off and all eyes fell upon Danny as he picked up his phone. He gave it a strange look. "Uh, sorry, this will only be a second. Probably a wrong number." With some assistance from Sam, he got up off the bench, walked a little ways away, and answered the call.

The interview continued but it became background noise as Marinette watched Danny. The moment he put the phone to his ear, he tensed he started looking around the area franticly like he was searching for something. Finally, he put his phone back into his pocket, ran his hand tiredly over his face, and walked back to the bench. Marinette tried her best to look as if she hadn't just been watching his entire phone conversation and was completely paying attention to Sam's explanation of her akumatization.

When Danny came back, all eyes fell back onto him and he gave a very forced apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, that was my bank. There's something up with my account and I just need to go sort it out somewhere. I'll be back in a bit." Then he quickly whispered something in his girlfriend's ear and kissed her on her temple before walking away.

It was clear by the confusion on the two American's faces that something wasn't right. However, after a quick glance between them, they wiped that confusion away and continued as if there was no interruption. It was practiced and coordinated, something they were clearly used to while covering for their friend. It would've fooled someone who didn't suspect anything but Marinette knew better.

A tapping on Marinette's thigh caught her attention and she looked down at her purse. Two big blue eyes peered out from within. Tikki poked her head out a bit and mouthed two words.

" _Follow him_."

"I forgot something!"

The sudden outburst from Marinette startled everyone and all eyes turned to her. She shot up out of her seat, an embarrassed smile on her face, and announced, "My, uh, parents asked me to check on something for them back at the bakery! And I may have forgotten about it!"

Even to Marinette's ears the excuse sounded forced and faked but it was too late to back out of it. She gave a quick "I'll be back in a bit!" and fast walked away in the direction that Danny had gone.

Once out of sight, she smacked her forehead. "That was the worst excuse I have ever come up with."

"There were much worse excuses you could've come up with," Tikki told her, trying to be comforting.

It didn't comfort Marinette much, however she needed to focus on the task at hand. She looked around the street ahead, searching for her American friend. There were some shops, a lot of doorsteps, and a few Parisian residents milling about. But no sign of Danny.

Marinette sighed, "Great, I can't find him. He could be anywhere by now! He can turn invisible and fly!"

Passing by the entrance to an alley, her eyes quickly flickered into it. Barely registering the form of a teenager, she continued passed the alley. Then she came to a dead halt.

"I think that was him," Marinette whispered.

As sneakily as she could, she pressed herself to the side of the building, edged along until she was right next to the opening, then peaked in. Sure enough, Danny was standing with his back to her a little ways into the alley.

He wasn't alone, though. In front of him was a man clearly dressed to impress. Standing just above Danny, the man had silver hair pulled back and a clearly very expensive designer suit. Just looking at the man from a distance made Marinette feel deeply unsettled.

The two of them were talking and, even if she couldn't hear them, Marinette could tell that it was clearly not a friendly encounter. She strained to hear what they said but they were too far away.

Peaking in a bit more, she noticed a dumpster sitting on the wall closest to her. Channeling her inner super spy, she got down low, pressed herself against the wall, and crawled to the dumpster. The smell was foul and Marinette had to suppress a gag but she pressed herself against the dumpster and listened to the conversation.

"No pleasantries with you, huh, Daniel? I can't just stop by to say hello?" A deep male voice said. His voice was comparable to a magician that clearly knew a trick and liked to gloat about it but never revealed his secrets.

"Going to Paris isn't exactly a quick detour, cheesehead," Danny replied steely. "Don't you have anything better to do than come to another country and annoy some teenagers? Who's feeding your cat while you're gone?"

"You got me there, Daniel. In truth, I came concerned for your health but I'm sure you know your biology well enough to have prepared for this trip. Although your current appearance leads me to believe otherwise or do all teenagers look like they're about to pass out at any given second."

"It's a new fashion trend. You know how us kids are with our trends."

Marinette had to suppress a snort.

The man hummed, "You brought enough ectoplasm to last your trip then? Ecto exhaustion is a serious matter, after all."

"You're exhausting to listen to."

The man sighed in annoyance, "Honestly, I don't even know why I bothered. Even when it's something potentially life threatening you'll just continue to act like a child. I'll just leave you to waste yourself. Good day, Daniel."

Marinette heard the man take a few steps and tensed up, ready to bolt. She didn't want to know what this man would do if he found her eavesdropping.

"Wait."

Danny's voice stopped the man dead. Marinette couldn't even see the man but she could almost picture the victorious smirk on his face. His game had been played his way and they all knew it.

"What's ecto exhaustion?" Danny asked begrudgingly.

Marinette almost wanted to jump out and tell him herself. Keep him from playing into this man's hands but blowing her cover would ultimately not be a good thing.

The man tsk'd in response, "Truly, Daniel, I thought you'd have done more studying on your own biology or heard about it from my beautiful Maddie. It is something so vital to ectoplasmic creatures that any paranormal scientist worth their salt would know about it. I guess that's why your father never blathered on about it to you."

"I don't have time for you to take cheap shots at my dad or be creepy about my mom," Danny snapped. "If you're as concerned as you claim to be, then tell me what ecto exhaustion is."

"Using that tone won't always get you what you want, Daniel, but I guess I'll comply this once," the man sneered. "Ectoplasm is what ghosts are made up, as you should know. They live and breathe it. But it's also essential to what gives them their abilities. It fuels those abilities, like gas to a car. The more ghosts go invisible or intangible, the less ectoplasm they have. If they do it too much without returning to the ghost zone to, in a sense, recharge then they'll become exhausted and eventually disappear.

"The reason why you and I have our powers is because ectoplasm fused within us. Without it, we'd be nothing more than just normal humans, correct?" The man continued. His tone suggested less that he was explaining a serious matter to a teenager and more like he was trying to teach a toddler why water fell from the sky. "Our abilities work in the same way but we're much more susceptible to ecto exhaustion due to our half human nature. We won't disappear but it could severely damage our bodies and minds. We have a much smaller well of ectoplasm to extract from which makes it harder to maintain."

"I call bullshit," Danny told him. "I've gone weeks without going into the ghost zone and I never felt exhausted back in Amity Park."

"Language, Daniel," the mad admonished. "The air in Amity Park is so charged with ectoplasm due to your parent's portal that there's no need to. You suck it up like a sponge everywhere you walk. Why do you think ghosts stay in Amity Park instead of running to different towns? Anymore dumb questions?"

It was silent for a moment. Marinette didn't even want to breathe for fear of being heard by the two half ghosts. Or at least that's what she assumed the man was considering how he spoke of both of them.

"So what are you doing here?" Danny asked with annoyance clear in his voice. "I doubt you flew all this way out here to give me a biology lesson."

"You know me so well, Daniel," the man replied smugly. "I, of course, prepared for this trip and brought as many vials of pure ectoplasm as I could as I always do. I'd be willing to share with you so you can go on playing superhero with the locals."

"And the catch?"

"Oh nothing big. I'll let you continue on your vacation as if I wasn't even here. But once you get back to Amity Park, you must move in with me and agree to become my student. You can come with the reasoning, I'll give you creative liberty with all that."

Marinette gaped silently. Who even was this man? He was obviously familiar with Danny but they didn't seem to be on friendly terms. He was just getting creepier and creepier by the second and Marinette's anxiety about being caught grew with that.

After a moment, Danny finally told him, "You are one seriously fucked up fruitloop. You can't seriously think that I would agree to that, right? No way in hell I'm accepting that. I'll just go the rest of my vacation without using my ghost powers. Ladybug and Chat Noir survived long enough without me at this point I'm sure they'll be fine."

Marinette could've cheered.

"Hmmm I thought you might say that."

That cheering instantly shifted back to an unease.

"I'm sure you liked seeing Skulker again?" The man continued casually. "Surely you're wondering how he was able to get here in the first place. It seems that I packed a little heavy and accidentally brought some of your enemies along with me. If you refuse my offer, every 12 hours I'll release a new one onto the streets of Paris. In your condition I'd doubt you'd be able to even stop the first one and those other so called superheroes would be powerless against them."

It was as if a bucket of ice water had been dumped onto Marinette. She could just picture her and Chat being overpowered by these green otherworldly beings. They could handle maybe one or two but one every twelve hours on top of other akumas? She shook the picture from her mind. Overwhelming herself right now would do no good.

"This isn't good," Tikki whispered from beside her ear.

Thanks, Tikki.

Danny had gone silent. He was backed into a corner. He could either help himself and save what was left of his vacation by taking the offer but ultimately give up his freedom or risk himself, Chat and Ladybug, and Paris but return home to his family and life. It was by no means an easy choice.

Finally after a moment, he said, "No deal."

Marinette released a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding.

"Hm, as stubborn as always. I can't wait to watch that hero complex of yours finally be your undoing," the man said. "The offer will remain on the table until the last day of your trip. If you come to your senses, you have my number."

With that, Danny turned and stormed past Marinette and back down the street the way they had come.

Marinette sat as still as she could as she heard the slow footfalls of the man approach her location. He came into view, towering over her with his hands folded professionally behind his back, and he stopped.

"If you want to keep those earrings of yours, I would suggest minding your own business, little bug," he said in perfect French. His eyes flickered down to her briefly, cold and merciless, before he continued walking and vanished from sight.

The Parisian teenager couldn't take her eyes off of where the man had disappeared. She stared in silent horror, clutching the strap of her purse tightly.

"Marinette?"

Tikki was tapping her cheek lightly and calling for her.

"Tikki, he knows," she told her urgently.

Tikki gave a solemn nod, "I know, this is bad. We need to be really careful. This man could be even more of a threat than La Papillon."

Slowly Marinette got to her feet and started her walk back towards the park. Anxiety clutched her and her mind buzzed. "What should I do, Tikki? If I interfere… I don't know what that man would do. But I can't just let Danny do this alone."

"He's threatening Paris, Marinette," the little god replied from within collar of her shirt. "You must stop him but we need to be careful. If he knows who you are, he might know who Chat Noir is and maybe even where the rest of the stones are."

Marinette took a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself. It didn't really work but nonetheless she put on a focussed face and nodded. "I'll help Danny. He's going to need Chat and I's help. I'll have to explain the situation to Chat next time I get the chance."

She arrived back at the park to find Alya sitting alone at the bench typing on her phone. Danny, Tucker, and Sam were nowhere to be seen.

"I didn't expect the interview to be over that quickly," Marinette commented as she sat down across from her friend.

"Danny came back saying there was some kind of emergency and that they needed to go sort it out," Alya said with a shrug. She put down her phone and looked up at Marinette with curiosity clear in her eyes. "So, what did you find out?"

Marinette tensed up for a second before putting on her best casual face, "I- wha- I don't- I don't know what you're talking about!"

Smooth.

Alya gave her an unimpressed stare. "You know you live in the opposite direction than the one you went, right? You were very obviously following Danny. I would be surprised if they didn't figure that out for themselves. Now, spill."

Marinette looked at Alya, unsure of what to say. After a moment of thinking, she relented. "I saw Danny talking with a man. I don't know who he was or what they were talking about but Danny looked angry and upset."

"You think it could be La Papillon?" Alya asked.

Marinette shook her head. "No, they seemed like they knew each other and I doubt Danny would know La Papillon."

Alya hummed and tapped her chin in thought. "Whoever it was, he probably is bad news. Hopefully you're wrong and it was just some angry bank teller."

"Yeah, hopefully."

Marinette looked around the park, suddenly feeling quite exposed out in the open. Of course, no one around was taking any interesting in their conversation but the feeling of someone watching wouldn't leave.

"You okay, Marinette?" Alya asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Marinette replied, nodding slowly. "It's just… I remembered that my parents had actually asked me to go and check on something at the bakery."

Alya deadpanned. "You're kidding."

"I wish."

Alya sighed, picked up her purse, and stood up with Marinette following suit. "Your forgetfulness astounds me. I wanted to pick up some cookies anyways."

The two girls walked out of the park together. The light breeze gently played with Marinette's hair but the cold that had set in was no longer welcomed. The cold dread of a storm was brewing and this was no doubt the calm before it.

* * *

 **AN:** **Thank you everyone who has read and commented and everything! I really appreciate all of the support!** **This chapter ended up being a lot longer than I had expected and is actually the longest in the story so far. I apologize for how long it took to come out but I got a job a few months ago and it's been keeping me rather busy.  
Edit: Yes, I am aware that the whole ecto exhaustion thing couldn't actually be canon but for the sake of the fic I'm ignoring that.**

 **I hope all of you enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you guys soon for the next! :)**


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